Overview

Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by diesel engines and utilizing the 3-door hatchback body style within the same 'Small family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Opel and rear in the case of the BMW). The first one has a FIAT-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 90hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 116hp engine designed by BMW.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, 1 Series offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Opel does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Opel with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the BMW badge with 4.1 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Astra 17% below average, and 1 Series 3% above the first one. We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Astra rank it on average as 4.1, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.5 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 3.4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 200 kilometers per hour, 26km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be 1 Series, averaging around 4.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (64 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 16% difference compared to Astra.

Verdict

Opel appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, 1 Series offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with BMW outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but BMW. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.